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Folklore Courses

Ukrainian and general folklore classes investigate cultural themes including history, art, music, oral literature and calendar customs, giving students a wide range of topics to explore. Folklore classes are unique as they get you out of the classroom and practising applied research skills. Fieldwork - going out and collecting cultural information - is part of many folklore classes.

INT D 439 - Ukrainian Dance

Discover how Ukrainian dance evolved from a common village practice to a highly popular art form. Dance around! Learn traditional dance steps and choreography and how they have been adapted for the stage. Great for the non-dancers or seasoned performers alike.

MLCS 299 - Graffiti

Course goals are: 1) to understand graffiti as social phenomenon with great diversity. We will explore interactions between motivation and form as we observe some graffiti writers who write tags, others who create art, and still others who express ideology. We will explore a variety of perspectives and commentary on graffiti. 2) to gain research design skills, explore "forensic" ethnographic methods, to hone skills in observing nuances in expressive social culture. The course will focus on Edmonton graffiti in its worldwide context, and will involve participation in a special photography and database project. Several class projects will be built upon analyzing the graffiti information we collect.

MLCS 632 - Folklore Research Methods

Explore the early history of Canada and Alberta's first and largest Ukrainian settlement period. This course provides participants with information about settlement history, natural and built transportation routes, adaptation of the natural landscape, spiritual culture, material culture and the importance of language and dialect in understanding culture.

UKR 327 - Early Ukrainian Canadian Culture

Explore the early history of Canada and Alberta's first and largest Ukrainian settlement period. This course provides participants with information about settlement history, natural and built transportation routes, adaptation of the natural landscape, spiritual culture, material culture and the importance of language and dialect in understanding culture.

Examine Ukrainian culture in Ukraine and Canada with a focus on day-to-day life. Learn how beliefs and values are manifested in customs, traditions, art and spiritual culture and how they have transformed throughout history. Explore the links between elite and peasant culture and its impact on the present.

MLCS 204 - Forms of Folklore

Folklore is all around us. It is found in stories, songs, toys, foods, festivals, jokes, dances, games. University students tell jokes and ghost stories while oil workers practice initiation rites on new employees. Ethnic communities preserve their identity through folklore and showcase it to others. This course will teach students to recognize folk expression and ask them to do a collection project where they record an item of folklore and analyze it. The objective is to build awareness of the many meanings such expression may hold.

MLCS 205 - The History of Folklore

The course introduces the basic history and main concepts of folklore. Students explore numerous interesting examples from their immediate environment, as well as from the languages and cultures studied in the Department of MLCS.
Folklore includes a wide range of expressive traditions (stories, customs, beliefs, songs, games, music, decorations, jokes, handmade objects, dances, tools, celebrations, and many others), learned informally and communicated in direct face-to-face situations. Folklore items are both durable and adaptable, allowing for variation. Some examples of folklore traditions are very new, whereas others have long roots into the distant past. Folklore items shed light on the cultural context in which they are produced, and on the people that produce them. The course will expose students to the skills of folklorists, which include the ability to observe their environment carefully, to appreciate and value local cultural expressions, library and archive research, qualitative analysis of mixed data, critical thinking, and communication (both interpersonally as well as in written modes).